What needs to be changed on the M17x?

Its speculation that the clocks would be lower, from what I understand

 

Yeah the question is why. If FSB is out of the picture why can't they start building up again instead of out.

 

In my view there should be two main changes to this laptop:

- RGB LED Screen
- Liquid Cooling system for true overclocking

I am not sure why Dell did not introduce those two technologies with this laptop.

 

Am I the only one who would like customizable Macro keys?
I love my G15 keyboard and the macro keys are a biggie in games.

 

Cant you set macros to specific function keys in games? thats what ive always done

 

But then you would need a gargantuan laptop like the disturbingly big 18.4" Sager (if you wanted keys next to the keyboard like that one).

IMO, once a system gets to 18.4", that is getting quite rediculous. You won't ever catch me with a system that big -- it's laughable.

 

Well i mean there is plenty of room from the base to keyboard. I'd like it even on the bottom right of the laptop lol.

 

Maybe if u play RTS/MMO it can be useful... I play FPS and i can't bind the G-keys to buy in CS so it's useless for me (and if i assign it to B46 or something it's slower than me LOL)...

G15 was the most useless thing i ever bought LOL (try carrying it to attend lan events... Doesn't fit in any bad in this world lol)

Now i use a DKTBoard and I'm happy

 

Does anyone have issues with the placement of the touchpad? It seems to be a little more to the left of where I'd like. Does your hand rest on the touchpad when in standard gaming mode (hands on W A S D) or when just simply typying? I understand that most people use a mouse and have the touchpad set to disable when using a mouse, but as a mobile platform, you'd like the flexibility of being able to use the touchpad in a pinch (at the airport for example).

 

the touchpad is aligned with the spacebar (and therefore the center of the keyboard without the numpad), like on most laptops.

 

Touchpad starts at the end of the alt key. It's not centered with the space bar like my Thinkpad.

 

This is what the G13 gamepad is for. Look it up.

 

I have the g13 game pad myself.. Love it to death.. I need more buttons than 4 maybe 8 that would be built into the notebook.. I need tons... the more the better.. lol

 

Umm...G13 has 25 buttons....

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/5123&cl=us,en

 

Yep.

That is why i prefer it to built in macro buttons on the laptop.. Most built in buttons on a notebook consist of 4-8 and that isnt enough for me.. lol


That is why i prefer the g13 and I have approx 12 more customizable buttons on my mouse.

 

If the screen is in anyway as poor as many people claim, then yes, there would be a need for a definite improvement. However, at this point I'm only taking their word for it, since professional reviews have praised it's display.

As for "liquid" cooling? Wouldn't that defeat the point of a laptop's portability? After all, the M17x is already one of the heaviest laptops on the market.


My additions are simple, I'd like to see it come in more colors. A minimum of three; I'd add Ferrari red.

 

I'd sacrifice the numpad for a zboard, G13 or similar styled gamepad to the left of the keyboard.

 

I don't find the screen to be of poor quality but there is some light leakage that should not happen if it was a LED screen.

 

now this i would like to see...i mean i use the num pad, but not as much as i would the game pad if it were there....nice one Phin....

 

Maybe someday they'll get the optimus oled keys in a laptop!

Now THAT I would pay extra for

 

what would be the difference...?

 

http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

Don't work that good in real world but...

 

Light leakage could still happen with LED backlight. I had an HP with LED backlighting I returned because it had horrible light leakage but I think the screen was just poor quality and it would have major light leakage anyway. The LED backlighting made it brighter but if it were LED or 1 CCFL it was still a terrible screen. The LCD itself was of poor quality.

 

Ideapad Y710 and Y730 had an option for a simple gamepad to the right of the keyboard instead of a numpad so it's not an original concept.

Too bad Lenovo sucked at speccing gaming rigs. extreme proc + a single HD 3650 FTL.

 

Oh the buttons themselves have an LED screen...thats spiffy

 

yep except you pay thousands of dollars to get one... definately not worth it especially if you look at the reviews, "not good for typing"... i love to have keyboards sit there while i dont type on them lol... they are good for gaming and photoshop and stuff like that...

 

I was talking about having a set of 10 or so OLED keys for gaming instead of the numpad, not the entire keyboard.

 

o lol... yea that may be good.... that would be instead of numpad right?

 

or how about an E-ink'd numpad that can change for whatever use at the time....

 

Replace the trackpad with a mini-touchscreen display. Perform a specific gesture and the screen will display a numpad.

 

Okay, can somebody tell me what's the difference with the 4850, 4860 and 4870? Why are you guys preferring the 4850 over the 4870? I thought the latter was "the best"? Need schooling in ATI stuff please

 

The 4850 w/GDDR5 would be a slightly lower clocked 4870

 

why would this be better, for overclocking reasons?

 

4850 with ddr 3 is in the Asus w90p
4870 is not out
4860 is a mid range card it sucks

he said he wanted 4850 with ddr5 so that we could make fun of the Asus owners...

 

They actually has a laptop with a OLED touch screen for the mouse pad and does exactly that and many other features

 

ATI 4850 and 4870 use the same 55-nm RV770 GPU but have different clocks and should use different VRAM even though some people don't think that's a requirement. 4870 w/ GDDR5. 4850 w/GDDR3.

ATI 4860 and 4830 (and desktop 4770) use the same 40-nm RV740 GPU and are differentiated by using GDDR5 (4860) or GDDR3 (4830).


The reason why I said I'd like to see a Mobility HD 4850 with 1Gb of GDDR5 VRAM is just for the humor of it. It would essentially be a genuine Mobility 4870 as per ATI's original reference card whereas the only Mobility 4870 currently in a notebook (the W90) uses 512Mb of GDDR3 and is really just a Mobility 4850 with a higher clock rate.

The reason why I said I'd take Crossfired Mobility 4860 is because they're designated to perform between a 4850 and 4870 (w/GDDR5...I wouldn't be surprised if they perform on par with GDDR3 4870 and GTX 280Ms ;þ) but use in the neighborhood of half the power. So two 4860 would have a power draw close to that of a single 4870.

 

So if Dell/Alienware released an M17x with ATI cards, what would happen to the integrated 9400? Would it be replaced with an integrated ATI of sorts? Otherwise it would be weird to have ATI and NVIDI in the same laptop (wouldn't the universe explode?).

 

no the 9400m will work with ATI cards

nothing will change

 

The only difference will be that when switching from IGP to discrete (and vice versa) you will need to reboot (this had been confirmed by chaz).

 

Huh...that kind of sucks...but it sounds like people are preferring the ATIs over the GTX 280. Are they that much better?

 

The 4850s with DDR3 are neck and neck with the current 280's

With ddr5 they should pull away by 10-15 % and be cheaper (speculation )
Also IMO Xfire is better then SLI

 

I'd prolly prefer the nvidia 3xx series

 

For me the biggest weakness of that computer was definitely the screen. Not just gaming but even watching a movie with the blu-ray drive was not fun with the light bleeding out the bottom of the screen.

 

Well with the way Win7 is looking you'll have to reboot to switch graphics anyway.

 

An iCore 7 processor perhaps..plus a 45nm versions of the 200M series.

 

so all in all it sounds like people are really liking the ATI right now.

 

Displayport 1.2 - as it becomes ready
Digital out, optical preferred for single 5.1 connection to outside amplifiers
LED 1200P screen, keeping the 8ms response time and high brightness (hint kind of like a gaming version of the M6400)
Intel chipset (sorry it needs to be said)
5 year warranty options in case we plan to own one for a long time
Locks for the screen (the latchless design is unlikely to hold up over time)
External power button mode for using just the machine on 1-2 external monitors.
Comfort curve external keyboard (like the accessories otherwise)
No key outlines on the backlit keyboard, just lighting the letters is plenty.
I5 mobile cpu eventually, with 3 SODIMM slots if available
USB 3.0 when available, and 6 USB slots please
Drive cage ready option for 2nd hardrive - meaning the equipment is there when we want to transfer the main drive as a secondard and upgrade the primary hardrive to something larger.
Cooling oriented docking station that takes the cooling vents into account (fans placed in the proper location) and with perhaps a similar black aluminum styling to the M17x. I realize there is no docking station plug, that's why I said a cooling oriented station.
A known high quality sound chip inside that is Vista/Win 7 ready
A user replaceable keyboard (as the M6400) so we can replace them when we wear them out!
More battery power (12 cell?)
Someone tell the manufacturers we can live without Firewire
Don't be vague about what soundchip you are using.
A couple of programmable keys (2-4 would be nice) or at least a "calc" button. Can't tell you how much I use that on my M6400 just to quick pop up calc for some quick checking.




Things I like:

Cooling mesh everywhere! Finally taking laptop cooling seriously.
5.1 sound outs (just missing a digital out either optical or rca)
High brightness 8ms screen
9400 chip is nice to tone down power useage on battery (surfing) but not for having to accept a Nvidia chipset.
Moderate OC'ing allowed. Big perk in my eyes.
Dual HD's design.
Slot loading DVD or BR.
Displayport and something else (so I can run a 30" and either laptop or some alternate 1200p display)

That'll do for starters.

 

You request a better onboard sound and want to drop firewire so 90% of all professional audio interfaces out there will be not usable in the laptop... Smart move

 

why complain about extra ports that the laptop? i understand requesting more ports but requesting to get rid of a port is downright odd...

 

Didn't the previous model have this?

I mentioned that earlier and was told latches were obsolete?

Goodness!

Something EVERY laptop should have!

Is there ever enough? But as long as it doesn't stick out.

Sorry, but no! It's still the standard in multimedia and video.

Great!

A no cost alternative to HDMI?

Wow, what a wish list. But you should number the next time. I got dizzy reading them.

May I add, better speakers!